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In reply to the discussion: Give Edward Snowden the Same Deal General Petraeus Got for Leaking Info [View all]bigtree
(94,203 posts)from the article:
Greenwald said he would not have published some of the stories that ran in the South China Morning Post. Whether I would have disclosed the specific IP addresses in China and Hong Kong the NSA is hacking, I dont think I would have, Greenwald said. What motivated that leak though was a need to ingratiate himself to the people of Hong Kong and China.
However, Greenwald said that in his dealings with Snowden the 30-year-old systems administrator was adamant that he and his newspaper go through the document and only publish what served the publics right to know. Snowden himself was vehement from the start that we do engage in that journalistic process and we not gratuitously publish things, Greenwald said. I do know he was vehement about that. He was not trying to harm the U.S. government; he was trying to shine light on it.
Greenwald said Snowden for example did not wish to publicize information that gave the technical specifications or blueprints for how the NSA constructed its eavesdropping network. He is worried that would enable other states to enhance their security systems and monitor their own citizens. Greenwald also said Snowden did not wish to repeat the kinds of disclosures made famous a generation ago by former CIA spy, Philip Ageewho published information after defecting to Cuba that outed undercover CIA officers. He was very insistent he does not want to publish documents to harm individuals or blow anyones undercover status, Greenwald said. He added that Snowden told him, Leaking CIA documents can actually harm people, whereas leaking NSA documents can harm systems.
Greenwald also said his newspaper had no plans to publish the technical specifications of NSA systems. I do not want to help other states get better at surveillance, Greenwald said. He added, We wont publish things that might ruin ongoing operations from the U.S. government that very few people would object to the United States doing.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/06/25/greenwald-snowden-s-files-are-out-there-if-anything-happens-to-him.html